The Walking Dead: Tom Payne Discusses Jesus’ Big Reveal In The Other Side

Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead was very much about Sasha and Rosita and their mission to kill Negan. However, before their journey began, a few other characters saw some major development with Maggie playing catalyst for both.

Not only did Daryl open up to Maggie about the guilt of Glenn’s death from the Season 7 premiere, Jesus discussed the feeling of belonging he has found since Enid, Sasha, and Maggie arrived at the Hilltop. In helping Rick’s group rally against Negan, the character has found a new sense of purpose which he did not previously feel while living under Gregory’s leadership.

ComicBook.com caught up with Payne to discuss Jesus’ big sexuality reveal, which keeps the character true to his comic book counterpart.

With Jesus’ sexuality revealing the character to be gay, Payne says it will effect his role on the show “in no way, whatsoever.”

“I loved how that was handled in the show and it struck me that, I don’t know when the last time he shared that information was,” Payne said. “So, that shows a really nice relationship with Maggie. It’s such a small scene. I loved how in that small scene he spoke about being in a group home and he spoke about his boyfriends and revealed a lot about himself in a short amount of time which was really great. Obviously, this is the apocalypse, so if we’re worried about people’s sexuality, then it’s just ridiculous.”

As for whether or not Jesus will find love, Payne says, “there’s a chance,” although the choices are slim with a constantly dwindling population. “Who thought Richonne was gonna happen?” Payne points out.

It’s hard to think about a relationship when preparing for a war and that’s just what Jesus’ community is doing. Being trained by Maggie, Sasha, and others, the group is getting ready to stand up to Negan behind Rick’s eventual charge. Payne says the community is a “pretty good” fit for the army, before going on to call them “pretty tough.”

They’re pretty resilient,” Payne said, “They’re not like the Kingdomers who are doing route marches everyday and have body armor and stuff. It’s been going on for a long time at the Hilltop. It’s an imperfect situation that’s going to get worse. Gregory is a dangerous character who could, at any minute, screw everything over. I think they’ll be a good addition.”

Of course, the hottest topic coming out of The Other Side episode is Sasha’s fate, which was left ambiguously as she charged into Negan’s Sanctuary armed with a silenced pistol and a massive chip on her shoulder. This couldn’t have happened without Jesus allowing Sasha to carry out the mission after learning its existence in Episode 7x14’s early moments.

“Jesus isn’t someone to stand in anyone’s way, really,” Payne said. “Everyone has their own life and choices to make. He’s a good support. He wants to help people. If that’s what Sasha wants to do for her own peace of mind and her own sanity, if he knew she was gonna run to her death, if that’s her choice, that’s her choice. He says, ‘I’d rather you didn’t but I know that you will.’ You can’t stop that.”